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Forums - Gaming - WRPGs Vs JRPGs.

 

Which is better overall?

JRPGs. 133 70.00%
 
WRPGs. 57 30.00%
 
Total:190
Kyuu said:
The WRPGs I played are characterized with dullness, emptiness and complete lack of personality. Of course this is just how I feel about them but man do I find them boring and uninspired.

Oblivion is easily one of the most overrated games I played.

Hm, I'd definitely recommend playing games like Planescape:Torment, or Baldur's Gate if you want something to bridge the gap between JRPG's and WRPG"s for you. They are, like JRPG's, more linear and give you less freedom, but they'll have that "inspiration" you are looking for while maintaining WRPG gameplay mechanics. The point of The Elder Scrolls series is to give you a sandbox to make your own adventure and to Role-play (per its more literal definition.) If you can't do that, you probably won't find it enjoyable, but there are many WRPG's that don't do this. 



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JRPG are the best.

But... these days WRPG's are superior. It doesn't mean they are the best overall but there are more good WRPG's than JRPG's these days.



"I've Underestimated the Horse Power from Mario Kart 8, I'll Never Doubt the WiiU's Engine Again"

MDMAlliance said:
Strange that no one in here brought up the point that JRPG and WRPG and very arbitrary terms.

I do know that a lot of people have certain things in mind when they say one or the other, but if you actually delve more into each of the genres you're referring to, you'll see that it becomes harder to differentiate unless you want to separate them by literally where they are made. Then it comes down to some exception cases with that. However, another problem presents itself where a game made in Japan resembles completely a game you normally associate with the West and vice versa.

Of course, with all that said, the majority of the RPGs I've played fit under what people would undeniably call "JRPG," so I don't really have a way of answering this question even if I did agree with using this terminology.

JRPG ~ Console RPG

WRPG ~ Computer RPG

If you think of it it that way it's easier to differentiate them into two different genres based on the history of the games found on their respective platforms (they diverged in the 90's.) For that reasons, there are Japanese developed WRPGs, and Western developed JRPGs. 



I hate those two terms, but I voted JRPG.

Typically better combat mechanics, better music, and a better sense of adventure.



I am the Playstation Avenger.

   

Well i like games which are both! Dark Souls (example) is a game for Japanese and American/European gamer!



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sc94597 said:
MDMAlliance said:
Strange that no one in here brought up the point that JRPG and WRPG and very arbitrary terms.

I do know that a lot of people have certain things in mind when they say one or the other, but if you actually delve more into each of the genres you're referring to, you'll see that it becomes harder to differentiate unless you want to separate them by literally where they are made. Then it comes down to some exception cases with that. However, another problem presents itself where a game made in Japan resembles completely a game you normally associate with the West and vice versa.

Of course, with all that said, the majority of the RPGs I've played fit under what people would undeniably call "JRPG," so I don't really have a way of answering this question even if I did agree with using this terminology.

JRPG ~ Console RPG

WRPG ~ Computer RPG

If you think of it it that way it's easier to differentiate them into two different genres based on the history of the games found on their respective platforms (they diverged in the 90's.) For that reasons, there are Japanese developed WRPGs, and Western developed JRPGs. 

I'm not saying I don't know how to differentiate them based off of what people THINK they are.  I am saying that there's clear overlap over people's definitions and not everyone defines them the same way.  As I said already, it's arbitrary.  I am not going to, at the same time, deny that there is something here that does need to be differentiated.  However, the way we're doing it right now isn't really the best way to do it.  We're already seeing people arguing over whether Dark Souls is a JRPG or WRPG.  



Even if most of my favorite franchises are already dead and some of the new ones are horrible, I'd still have to choose JRPGs.



MDMAlliance said:
sc94597 said:
MDMAlliance said:
Strange that no one in here brought up the point that JRPG and WRPG and very arbitrary terms.

I do know that a lot of people have certain things in mind when they say one or the other, but if you actually delve more into each of the genres you're referring to, you'll see that it becomes harder to differentiate unless you want to separate them by literally where they are made. Then it comes down to some exception cases with that. However, another problem presents itself where a game made in Japan resembles completely a game you normally associate with the West and vice versa.

Of course, with all that said, the majority of the RPGs I've played fit under what people would undeniably call "JRPG," so I don't really have a way of answering this question even if I did agree with using this terminology.

JRPG ~ Console RPG

WRPG ~ Computer RPG

If you think of it it that way it's easier to differentiate them into two different genres based on the history of the games found on their respective platforms (they diverged in the 90's.) For that reasons, there are Japanese developed WRPGs, and Western developed JRPGs. 

I'm not saying I don't know how to differentiate them based off of what people THINK they are.  I am saying that there's clear overlap over people's definitions and not everyone defines them the same way.  As I said already, it's arbitrary.  I am not going to, at the same time, deny that there is something here that does need to be differentiated.  However, the way we're doing it right now isn't really the best way to do it.  We're already seeing people arguing over whether Dark Souls is a JRPG or WRPG.  

I see. I think that is true for any genre though. People argue whether Metroid Prime is an FPS or "FPA." The difference between Survival Horror and Action Horror. What constitutes an Action-Adventure rather than an Action game. So I think it is a pre-requisite when speaking of any genre. 



sc94597 said:

I see. I think that is true for any genre though. People argue whether Metroid Prime is an FPS or "FPA." The difference between Survival Horror and Action Horror. What constitutes an Action-Adventure rather than an Action game. So I think it is a pre-requisite when speaking of any genre. 

Some genres have overlaps, and you can say the same about WRPG and JRPG, except that people don't even quite agree how to define what WRPG and JRPG are due to the fact that the term refers to location rather than a set of mechanics.  People may think of some mechanics when they use the term, but it's not even close to being universal.  

For things like Metroid Prime being FPS or "FPA," it seems less to do with the genres and more to do with the game that causes the confusion.  FPS = First Person shooter.  That's well defined.  "FPA" = First Person Action, I suppose?  So I assume the game has elements of both in it while not completely identifying as one.  With JRPG and WRPG, what exactly defines these genres?  That JRPG's are from Japan?  You say console and PC, but you say Dark Souls is a WRPG even though it was a console game before it was a PC game.  It also is preferred to be played on the console due to poor optimization edit: on PC.

I know a lot of people also define JRPG's by the turn mechanic, but then the confusion will inevitably come when you have games people want to call JRPG's but don't use a turn taking mechanic.  Some say WRPG's are darker and "grittier," but those have nothing to do with a game being from Japan or the West and is misleading, and really shouldn't be something of its own genre.  

Some say it's about the open world aspect, but that then limits the games considered a WRPG and games called a JRPG given that open world games that are considered WRPG's are mostly a recent thing.  There are also JRPG's that can arguably be labeled as an open world game.  Then there's the argument about being "linear" or not, which the exact same problem comes up.  

Then I've seen those who say it's a combination of all those things, but that just makes things much more difficult because then it really just limits WRPG's and JRPG's to literally just a handful of games.



MDMAlliance said:
sc94597 said:

I see. I think that is true for any genre though. People argue whether Metroid Prime is an FPS or "FPA." The difference between Survival Horror and Action Horror. What constitutes an Action-Adventure rather than an Action game. So I think it is a pre-requisite when speaking of any genre. 

Some genres have overlaps, and you can say the same about WRPG and JRPG, except that people don't even quite agree how to define what WRPG and JRPG are due to the fact that the term refers to location rather than a set of mechanics.  People may think of some mechanics when they use the term, but it's not even close to being universal.  

For things like Metroid Prime being FPS or "FPA," it seems less to do with the genres and more to do with the game that causes the confusion.  FPS = First Person shooter.  That's well defined.  "FPA" = First Person Action, I suppose?  So I assume the game has elements of both in it while not completely identifying as one.  With JRPG and WRPG, what exactly defines these genres?  That JRPG's are from Japan?  You say console and PC, but you say Dark Souls is a WRPG even though it was a console game before it was a PC game.  It also is preferred to be played on the console due to poor optimization edit: on PC.

I know a lot of people also define JRPG's by the turn mechanic, but then the confusion will inevitably come when you have games people want to call JRPG's but don't use a turn taking mechanic.  Some say WRPG's are darker and "grittier," but those have nothing to do with a game being from Japan or the West and is misleading, and really shouldn't be something of its own genre.  

Some say it's about the open world aspect, but that then limits the games considered a WRPG and games called a JRPG given that open world games that are considered WRPG's are mostly a recent thing.  There are also JRPG's that can arguably be labeled as an open world game.  Then there's the argument about being "linear" or not, which the exact same problem comes up.  

Then I've seen those who say it's a combination of all those things, but that just makes things much more difficult because then it really just limits WRPG's and JRPG's to literally just a handful of games.

FPA stands for first person adventure. 

Console vs. Computer RPG was defined by tradition. The question one asks when determining genre is, does the content of the game traditionally place with console or computer RPG's? Jrpg vs. Wrpg replaced this because consoles were finally getting what would traditionally be a computer RPG. 

Think of it like music. One does  not have to be German to compose or play what would be classified as traditional German music, or Japanese to play traditional Japanese music. But a piece that is indistinguishable by genre from other "traditional" Japanese music, even if composed and played by a German, is  still part of the genre of traditional Japanese music because all of its  features are rooted from traditionally japanese pieces . Politics also has a similar classification system in some ideologies. For example, there were two types of Classical Liberalism: French and English. Some Englishmen fell within the French school of classical liberalism, and vice-versa. Or the terms "Austrian School of Economics" and" Chicago School of Economics", they originated in Austria and Chicago respectively, but one does not have to be from Austria  or Chicago to be an Austrian economic or Chicago School economist. 

But I honestly don't see how it's any harder to define a WRPG than defining a pure Action game (as  opposed with Action-Adventure.) An Action-Adventure might have action, but it also has many other things. Just like the WRPG is the sum of the things you listed, not any single one. Some WRPG's can be absent of one or two of these features, but because it has all of the other ones it would likely be called a WRPG. Now there is a point in the history of video games in which JRPG's and WRPG's were indistinguishable, because they all took from eachother, but that was very long ago and early in video-games.